I’m back in the country after a phenomenal and memorable trip to the U.K. for the Sourcing City Marketplace event. WOWZA, do those people know how to put on a show!

For those who don’t know, Sourcing City is a top service provider serving the U.K. promotional market and last week held its second annual Marketplace event at the FIVE (Farnborough International Venue & Events) in Farnborough, England, increasing the number of suppliers in attendance by 50%, and scheduling nearly 1,700 appointments with top distributors in the U.K. — a 132% jump from last year’s event.

The premise of Sourcing City’s Marketplace is that select U.K. distributors with sales in excess of 500,000 pounds are invited to the event and are required to set appointments, lasting 30 minutes, with suppliers. This year, the sales of the distributors in attendance made up 43% of the overall ad specialties sales in the U.K. market — 769 million pounds so far in 2012 (about $1.2 billion USD), up 2% from last year, according to a survey of 200 distributors by Sourcing City.

Phil Morgan, CEO of the supplier SPS (EU) Ltd., a U.K. manufacturer of diaries, mouse pads, drinkware, among other items, and the company with the exclusive rights to sell Rubik’s Cube items for the UK promotional market, attended Sourcing City’s Marketplace event last year and was so impressed, he doubled his exhibit area this year. “I think there’s a place for a traditional trade show, but clearly there is for this one as well,” said Morgan, who noted that 60 distributors had booked appointments with the company over the course of the two-day Marketplace event. “What I really like is the quality of customers we’re getting to see, and the amount of one-on-one time we’re spending with them – it’s much more conducive to conducting business and building relationships than at a trade show where there are so many people in your booth, you can’t possibly talk to them all in depth. Here, because distributors pre-schedule their appointments with us online, we’re able to pull their reports and look at the business they’ve done with us so far this year. We can address any problems that may have come up through the year and debut new products so we’re not waiting until January to do so, like most suppliers.”

Sourcing City’s LIVE! event will be held on January 16-17, 2013. For more information go to www.sourcingcity.co.uk.

Finally, some observations on the British: 1) I love how they add Earl Grey to everything — cocktails, shampoo, lotion and cookies. They are obsessed with their tea!; 2) The language barrier is amusing. For example, in the U.S. the word “jaded” means bored or cynical — in the UK it means “hungover,” as in “last night I was in the pub til 4:00 a.m. and now I’m bloody jaded!”; 3) Without question, Brits — and especially those I met at the Sourcing City event — are the nicest, most gracious and fun-loving group of people. And they are hearty drinkers!; 4) And finally, take a lesson from my colossal faux pas: While wearing my stilettos made from pony hair at the Sourcing City dinner, I kept telling admirers of them that they could feel free to “pet the pony.” Yeah. In the U.K., that means something totally different… Oy.

Now, without further delay, see below for tons of photos from the Sourcing City Marketplace event and after-hours fun!

More next week when I’ll be attending OH-based distributor Shumsky’s “Up Close and Promotional” event in Dayton.

Cheers,

– M

The charming and charismatic David Long (left), founder of Sourcing City, shown here with ASI’s president/CEO, Tim Andrews, who — by the way — is a hilariously entertaining travel companion. We shared a cab ride in Farnborough with a driver that was right out of a Monty Python skit.

Carmine Rauso (left), executive director of major distributor accounts at ASI, shown here with Alistair Mylchreest, CEO of Sourcing City. Alistair is like the Mick Jagger of the British promo industry — everyone knows him and wants to be part of his party!

An overview shot of Sourcing City’s Marketplace show. Now in its second year, the event was an unqualified success.

After the first night of the show, the awesome folks at Sourcing City held a dinner for its supplier and distributor members and attendees. Tim Andrews, ASI’s president/CEO, was the guest speaker.

ASI’s Carmine Rauso and Susanne Langley from Juniper Trading Ltd., at the Sourcing City dinner. Seriously, we had the Best. Table. Ever.

Why did we have the Best. Table. Ever., you may ask? Meet Gavin Page (left), managing director for Encore Catalogue Group. You know how there’s one person who’s the ringleader, who keeps the table lively and the drinks flowing? That was Gavin at our table who, much to my delight, went to the bar and got us a bottle of Veuve when our table ran out of its allotment of champagne. Love, love, LOVE him! Here he is with Toby Pache (center) from Sharon Lee and David Reid from Promobox.

Tim Andrews and Britain’s brightest bon vivant, Gavin Page.

After Tim Andrews gave the keynote address to the guests in attendance at Sourcing City’s dinner, Richard Hope-Jones from High Profile, who was sitting next to me, commented what a great speaker Tim was and jokingly mused about how much his fee was. Here, Richard “pays” Tim for his speaking services.

My girls! Here’s Liz Young — so much like me in so many ways I say we’re like the kooky Bronte sisters — and the effervescent Nikki Williams, Sourcing City’s customer support executive. I couldn’t have asked for two more fun ladies to hang out with in Farnborough!

Hands down, the funniest person we met at the Sourcing City Marketplace event was Chris Smith from Dunelm, shown here with his BFF, ASI’s Carmine Rauso. The progression of these photos is priceless, as Chris and Carmine became great pals over some after-dinner cocktails.

Here she is, the U.S. industry’s favorite globetrotting celeb, the one and only Jo-an Lantz, executive vice president of Counselor Top 40 distributor, Geiger. When I first started in the industry 15+ years ago, Jo-an was kind enough to act as my first female mentor and we’ve been great friends ever since. We laugh now about how we see each other more overseas than in our own country.

Awwww, here’s one of my all-time favorites — Steve Levschuk (left), owner of Toronto-based Talbot Marketing, shown here with Jo-an Lantz and Derek Rohde of the French distributor Jordenen S.A. Steve’s, Jo-an’s and Derek’s companies all belong to the World Advertising Gift Exchange (WAGE), a group of premier distributors — one from each country — that get voted into the group after an extensive vetting process. Jo-an is the current president of WAGE (how does this woman do it all???), and the group meets a few times each year around the globe to discuss market and economic trends in their respective countries. Check out their site here: www.wage-organisation.com/

On our last night in Farnborough, Sourcing City’s Alistair Mylchreest and Liz Young — who I just know were so exhausted after a whole week of their show and events — were the most amazing hosts and took Carmine and me to historic Guildford. For those of you who’ve never been, picture in your mind what a quintessential, quaint little British town looks like — that’s Guildford. (Click here to check it out: www.guildford.org.uk/). We had pre-dinner drinks at a classic British pub called The King’s Head, and a to-die-for dinner at the French restaurant Cote, followed by a visit to a local pub called Pews — all “brilliant,” as the Brits would say. Alistair, aside from being wicked smart and supremely gracious, has one of the most rapier wits ever.

When Alistair came to visit the U.S. in July for the ASI Chicago Show and brought some Sourcing City clients with him, they loved the show, loved the people and loved the town. The one area where we fell short? The quality of our beer, or lack thereof. (LOL moment: The look of sheer horror on Alistair’s face as the bartender at Kitty O’Sheas put an orange slice in his pint of Blue Moon beer…Fact: Brits do not do fruit in their beer.) Here are some classic British ales that have Alistair’s seal of approval.

Upon leaving Farnborough, I headed back to London and had lunch with my new friend Kiran Somaiya, owner of the U.K. supplier Sunray Import Ltd. (Click here to see his amazing crystal 3D USB drives: www.sunrayusb.com/). Kiran was one of the suppliers that made the trek across the pond in July with Alistair to attend the ASI Chicago Show and we’ve kept in touch since then. With him is the vivacious Nicola Grant, sales & marketing star extraordinaire at the U.K. distributor company Premier Promotional Products. Have you ever met people you just click with immediately? That’s how I felt being with Kiran and Nicola.

And last but certainly not least… For my final night in the U.K., I was lucky enough to be in London at the same time as the most beloved of all my industry friends, Polyconcept’s Michael Bernstein, who was in town for a meeting. How giddy with delight was I to spend some fun time with my brother from another mother, with whom I’ve been friends for 15 years? Consider this: Friday nights in London are crazy — vibrant, electrifying and packed with people everywhere; but there are definitely no cabs to be found. If you know me, you know I loathe to walk, especially in my stilettos (I famously hired a rickshaw to take me a block and a half at the ASI San Diego Show last year). When Michael pointed out that the club we wanted to go to was “eight blocks up and four over” and asked me if I minded walking, I smiled and said, “No problem,” knowing that for him, I’d walk to the ends of the earth. No bitching, hissy fits or hiring of limos. Why? Because he’s like my own, personal medicinal panacea — he calms me down, chills me out and makes me infinitely happier than I was before.

6 Comments

jill albers Says:

loving Alistair’s orange shirt! Also, Michele, the last picture is classic. Looks like you had a blast!

Thursday October 4, 2012

Chris Smith Says:

Michele,
It was great meeting you all at the event, I am pleased we made you all feel welcome, I had a fantastic night and as you know a very sore head the next day after the dinner!
Say Hi to my buddy Carmine for me!
A wonderful blog by a wonderful person, lots of love from the crazy little geordie person.
Chris xx

Thursday October 4, 2012

Tiffany Tarr Says:

Michelle, I’m loving that last picture! You look fantastic!

Thursday October 4, 2012

Michele Bell Says:

Aw, thanks, Girlfriend — I appreciate that! I, on the other hand, think I look like a Picasso painting from his Cubism period, with my eyes all kooky and off-kilter. ; ) Hope to see you soon! — M

Thursday October 4, 2012

Alistair Mylchreest Says:

This blog is just ‘brilliant’. So glad you had a wonderful time Michele, it was a real pleasure having you here. See you soon.

Friday October 5, 2012

Michele Bell Says:

Well, hey there Mick Jagger! Can’t wait to see you next month in Naples for the Power Summit, but you must promise to wear that fantastic orange shirt! Cheers! M